Welcome Anonymous !

This forum is intended to give the members of the ShiningWorld community a place to meet and discuss Vedanta among themselves. We do not endorse any of the views or opinions expressed here--unless they are made by one of our endorsed teachers--so please take advice and / or teaching from another member of the forum at your own risk. If you feel you have a question that is not being adequately answered in this forum, please contact one of our endorsed teachers directly.

General Discussion

This is where to post topics that do not fall into any of the below chapters. please post there whenever possible. If you cannot decide where to post, post here and your topic may be moved to the appropriate chapter as deemed relevant.

Since I'm not interested in being enlightened, like...totally not, I couldn't care less about who ever claims to be enlightened or is seen as such by others.All I care about is expressing what I consider as my take on certain issues, for the sake of doing so. I'm a writer. That's what I do, if possible. If not, not. And when I write more than 300 posts on some forum in only ten days, then that's what I did, as a writer. It's my job, my pleasure and my duty.

"...a tale told by an idiot...full of sound and fury..." (Shakespeare - McBeth)

Everybody follows a dharma-path. The only question is: what/whoms dharma-path is it one follows? That one Richard III is following or that one......you name them, are following.

I think, me being banned from the Sam Harris forum, couldn't be avoided. And I think it's a sign of being dishonest when a certain value that is appreciated in modern democratic societies, like the freedom of speech, whoms popular and out-spoken propagandist Sam Harris is, does not apply to me, as a member of his forum. What that is pointing to, isn't up to me to say out lound right now, right here. All I'm willing to say about it is: Someone could have asked me to stop posting that much. "Can you please don't post more than three posts a day?" That request would have made me stop posting that much. A simple request, in public, could have ended my ..... you name it. But well...now I can party hardy again....drinking tea and doing jewelry.

"If you would know what enlightenment really is you wouldn't want it." (Jed McKenna)

"We are the kings of advaita-vedanta." (James Swartz...said with a twinkle in his eyes...by him in spring 2012 in Hamburg...)

I think this might be an opportune moment to remind everyone of the forum rules. If we all abide by them, we`ll be in for a smooth ride. It`s easy to get the `wrong end of the stick` on internet communications as we`re not acting as if we are actually communicating face to face. that in itself usually tends to refrain us from getting carried away or being misunderstood to a large degree.

So, for those that are not familiar with the forum rules, here they are....

" FORUM AIMS AND RULES

This group is for discussion and postings about the teachings of Advaita Vedanta and James Swartz.

Feel free to respond to posts, submit questions, post quotes of Vedanta by James Swartz and other teachers if the quote is relevant to Advaita Vedanta.

Guidelines:

1. Are you trying to promote other teachings than nondual Vedanta? Are you bored and just looking for someone to talk to?

2. No hateful nor dualistic speech towards any members of the group is to be tolerated.

3. Please note, that the language to be used is English. Please make sure that your post is readable and easy to understand, otherwise the posts may be deleted. If you post in another language, you should also provide an English translation.

4. If you don’t have constructive criticism, please do not criticize others.

5. There is no restriction on the number of posts.

6. The administrators reserve the right to remove any posts that they feel are contrary to the groups purpose.

I`m a bit perplexed and bemused by what you had to say as I didn`t have you particularly in mind when I posted the forum rules reminder.I must admit I was a bit releived when you just deleted your previous more abuse post to me though.

This is what I had in mind...

" FORUM AIMS AND RULES

This group is for discussion and postings about the teachings of Advaita Vedanta and James Swartz.Feel free to respond to posts, submit questions, post quotes of Vedanta by James Swartz and other teachers if the quote is relevant to Advaita Vedanta.

I felt we were moving too far away from concentrating on vedanta related topics which after all, is the aim of the forum. I didn`t see anything wrong with your posts although I thought that Anja had about reached her `Off Topic` limits.... hence my reminder of the forum rules.

I have no objection to "robust conversation / rubbing people up the right way" if there is some vedanta based point to it. It`s why I was hesitant to stop the recent flow of topics. ok, it`s a balancing act and i`m not saying that i`m the perfect moderator as i`m learning on the job.You said...

you wont have any more "trouble" from me as I'm not participating in this forum anymore.

That`s entirely up to you Rick. I never felt there was any "trouble" from you and I don`t see why you needed to throw your toys out of the pram. There`s no need for you to go and frankly, I think you`re projecting a problem that isn`t there.

I hope I havent cause you any harm, and don't worry I think I dont have much to offer in the way of Vedanta studies here basically because I havent finished the study

Arn`t you missing the point here ? what bloody use is vedanta to the enlightened or the happy ? You want to offer something when you`ve reached perfection ?What we aim to do here is to study Together. share our knowledge and learn from our common doubts, difficulties and even our insights. many heads are better than one and we`re here to support one another.

Your participation would be a gift or offering...just as the rest of us. We come here knowing that none of us are perfect and we are willing to show ourselves as we are, warts and all. this being for the sake of self knowledge...the hardest thing of all to achieve.

You certainly havn`t caused me any personal "harm" as you put it. in fact I was much moved by your reply to me. I was half expecting another attack...it`s wonderful to be proven wrong in those circumstances! thank you.

As for Anja...sorry to speak over you Anja !... I don`t think she`s really a troll. she did lay her cards openly on the table. I think she`s strong minded and enjoys being provocative. You don`t have to bite ! Isn`t there some kind of lesson here ? anyway, we`re going to stay more vedanta focused now and i`ll make a point of being more vigilant . In my defense, I plead to not having the time recently to devote to the forum that it needs.

I hope you reconsider Rick and stick around. there arn`t too many sincere seekers of the Truth around.

I'm okay anyway all the time. I have zero problem with how Rick expresses himself. To me it seem to be a bit the other way around. I don't think I have said anything offensive directed at Rick personally. If he feels offended by what I say, or thinks I troll his thread by stating my experience with the Sam Harris forum, I don't agree with that.

I do think what I posted here has a lot to do with traditional (old-school) advaita-vedanta, although I don't use many sanskrit terms, but more common sense terms to express what I think needs to be pointed out.

Of course I'm not having a so called sattvic mind all the time. And that is because I don't want to. I have discovered a "method" to make my mind utterly rajasic and that state of mind I ride like as if it's a tiger. It's fun for me.

If I have offended anybody here by expressing my admittingly strong opinions, I don't mean it in a bad way.. "my intentions are good!" (lol). No, seriously, I have no evidence that anybody here is dangerous in any sort of way. But I thought, and still think Sam Harris is to a certain degree. He's an intellectual who gained a certain status and popularity as an atheist-guru. And since I'm not an atheist, I had to counter-balance that take on his forum, for his own sake. Wasn't too appreciated by some, others liked it. That's how it goes in life. Yah can't be everybodys darling.

Just because I don't use the usual sanskrit terms to express myself here, does not mean I don't know them. I just live my life, dudes and dudettes. And writing some stuff on some forums is part of that.

Regarding Rick, I actually enjoyed our conversation here and would continue, if he wants to. No need to have sweet-talk with me here, Rick. It's okay to call me names. You're not the first one and probalby not the last.

Since Rick has deleted all his posts in this thread, I feel a bit like...hmmm...like as if I'm some sort of a female teenage Joe Pesci impersonator. I'm not sure if that is a good sign or not.

I just hope I haven't ruined Rick's day today. By the way, I got me some scumpy-salad although I'm a vegetarian. Just because James' teacher, Swami Chinmayananda once said, according to James, "if you have to sin, sin intelligently."

James` version usually is " you`ve got to throw the dog a bone, sometimes." probably gets an extra laugh by some of the male Brits.

I do wonder if you were having a laugh when you said this ...

Of course I'm not having a so called sattvic mind all the time. And that is because I don't want to. I have discovered a "method" to make my mind utterly rajasic and that state of mind I ride like as if it's a tiger. It's fun for me.

Really ? If you find a `method` of making your mind sattvic, do spill the beans.

I have some friends from Brittan...so...and I, on top of that, do understand sub-text, at least to a certain degree.

Regarding having a "method" of making a rajasic mind into a satvic one, I would like to know what your take is on what a satvic mind is.

How does a satvic mind operate? What kind of content is in a satvic mind, if there is any? How does it feel to have a satvic mind? And what is it good for in a broader sense, like being a part of a community and having a satvic mind?

Or would that be a good topic for a different (or new) thread alltogether?

(By the way...on a side note: Goethe isn't like Shakespeare in a lot of ways. He had written just one really good play....)

A satvic mind, in my experience, and it indeed is just an experience, not more not less, is when one gets freed and released from a constantely inquiring mind. To me that happend in spring 2011 after having been to a weekend-retreat. It lasted for about two weeks in a row and was totally awesome. Never in my whole life I had experienced anything like this. Although I did use some kind of "illegal substances" once in a while in my early days.

It can hardly be described other than in some sort of poetic terms, I think.

That is what I am,when the vail is lifted,finally,I found it.Me. The real I.Tears of joy,and then,sitting in under-wear on a bed,for hours and hours,is as good as shopping for groceries,or riding a bike.

Everything is so quiet and peacefull,words, directed at me,seen as what they are:sounds, helplessly expressed,to make a dime change hands.

If I would have had the chance and the knowledge to sustain that state of mind by leaving the city, moving into a shed somewhere in the woods, to let it grow and grow, I would have done it. Like Ramana Maharshi did. But I'm a big city kinda gal and therefor had some things to do. About a year later I met James. And he said something like this, (paraphrased):

"Nothing wrong with having a rajasic mind. I have a rajasic mind too most of the time. It's about knowing what to do with it.....By the way, do we still have some oranges left?"

thank you for your interesting take on what you think I'm all about. I really mean it.I'm just wondering what that has to do with traditional (old-school) advaita-vedanta and the question what a satvic mind is....or isn't.

Also, I wonder how comes you seem to be a bit agitated about me posting 300 posts in ten days on some other forum than this, the Sam Harris forum. And on top of that I wonder how you even know about it. You mentioned it first, not me. I just said I was banned from there.

Here is another question I would like you to answer, if you are so inclined, Rick: